Aria (2008, UQP)

 

Winner, Arts ACT Judith Wright Poetry Prize 

Winner, The Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize

Winner, The FAW Anne Elder Poetry Prize

Shortlisted, Queensland Premier's Literary Awards

Shortlisted, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards

Shortlisted, The Mary Gilmore Poetry Prize

Commended, The Age Poetry Book of the Year

VCE Literature Selection, 2010-2014

 

Aria is a striking debut. Like piano music heard through a high window, the language is haunting but entirely of this world. The poems are awake to the dark constellations of art and history, to what momentarily is, and to what flows endlessly on. 

"Stunning... Holland-Batt appears to be a major poet from the start." - The Age

 

"These poems demand attention." - Anthony Lawrence 

 

"A most impressive and haunting volume." -The Sydney Morning Herald

 

"A serious talent...Holland-Batt has a confidence that doesn't need to attempt shock or experiment to declare the poems' intelligence." - Southerly

 

“In the last few years Australian poetry has seen a number of exciting debut collections and Sarah Holland-Batt’s Aria is another that can be included in that happy genre. In fact it is a knockout."  - Australian Poetry Review

 

"One of the most accomplished first volumes I have read in a long time...Holland-Batt is a poet worth taking special note of." - The Australian

 

“Well aware of the twin reserves of myth and metaphor,...Holland-Batt shares Plath's energetic approach to imagery, her love for an unusual word and her ability to transform an ordinary one into something more extraordinary."  - The Canberra Times

 

“In poems of startling freshness and immediacy, Holland-Batt bridges the quotidian and visionary worlds in vivid acts of seeing, and reminds us of poetry’s power to renovate, to restore delight in ordinary things... Holland-Batt reveals a mature mind that makes her one of the most compelling poets to emerge in recent years…[Aria] is a collection to keep, one to re-read for its luminous detail and knowledge, and its tender, compassionate imagination that is always 'letting the ordinary become the last.'"  - Mascara Literary Review

 

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